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l. GROSSNICKLE.

SILO.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 19-13.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET lawuwflioz J: Grossnickl WWMQJQ QQQQ 4 THE COLUMBIA PLANOODAPM c0. WASHINGTON. 0. c.

I. GROSSNICKLE.

SILO.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 24. I919.

Patented Sept." 2, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEETIL UZL.

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ig/bk TIIB COLUMBIA WRAP" C0" WMMINGTDN, I) C.

. J. GROSSNICKLE.

SILO.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-24. I919.

PntvntwlSept, 2, 1919.

4 SHEETS SHEET 4- "llnaluaau mllll n To all whom it may concern:

J ON AS GROSSNICKLE,'OF NORTH MANCHESTER, INDIANA.

SILO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'septfi, 1919.

Application filed January 24, 1919. Serial No. 272,916.

Be it known that I, Jonas GROSSNICKLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at North .Manchester, in the county of WVabash and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Silos, of which the followii'lg is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing; a

This invention relates to an improved silo and to improvements in the structural elements assembled to form the silo, these-elements being the door frame parts, the staves, etc, molded from concrete.

In the drawings, t

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a silo constructed with parts embodying my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a perspective showing one of the main staves partly broken away.

Fig.3 is a perspective of one of the shorter lower stay sections.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section showing one of the lower staves and a part of the one above it. a i Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 shows two of the adjacent staves of a vertical series when one of them is misalined.

Fig. 7 is a front view of theelements of a door assembled.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line 88 I opposite end edge is concaved, as shown at of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section on the line 99 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section on the line 1o 10 of Fig. 7. a

Fig. 11 shows on an enlarged scale the parts in'the lower portion of Fig. 5.

Fig. 12 is a vertical section on the line 1212 of Fig. 1. 4 l Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the elements "surrounding a doorway, detached.

Fig. 14 is an elevation of part of the silo shown on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 15 is a partial horizontal section showing the adjacent parts of two staves on.

a scale approximating full size.

liigs. 16 and 17 are diagrams to illustrate, by contrast, characteristics of my improved stave.

In the drawings a foundation is indicated at 1, 2; this being formed of concrete and shaped so as to have the bottom support lines of the staves all lie in the same horizontal ways are surrounded and se\"cral seriesof uniformly sized and similarly shaped staves,

together with sets of staves (for the bottom tier and the top tier) which are somewhat dill'ereut in shape and size from those first referred to.

10, 10 indicate the staves for the larger part of the silo and. are similar in shape and size. imatcly the same in length as thoseat 10, but at one end each is formed with a square edge. about one-half the length of the staves 10 and each at one end being square.

The main staves 10, 10, are shown as having flat inner and convex outer surfaces. One end edge of each is convex, being curved on the are of a circle of long radius, as shown at l t, and the curve extending continuously from the straight vertical lines of one side.

edge to the vertical lines of the other side edge. This convex end edge 14 is also rounded or curved, as shown at 15, in such.

16, the curvature at this edge being the relatively long are of a circle of long diameter, similar to the are of the convex edge 14. This end edge-16 is, as shown at 17, grooved or concaved in such a way that in each.

plane of intersection through the flat sides of the stave the curved line at the edge is the arc of a relatively short circle conforming to that of the rounded edge at the convex end 15.

9, 9 indicate staves which are approxw 1 1, 11 indicate shorterstaves, each One of the vertical edges 19, 90 of each stave is formed with a longitudinally extending groove, as at 13, this conforming to p the surface of a cylinder of short. diameter.

And the opposite vertical edge 20isconveX to those at 9, except that they are about onehalf the length. There is a series of doorways 3, 3, 3", 3, etc., arranged one above another. The frame elements for each door way are formed separately and comprise the bottom piece or sill bar 4,'the vertical side bars 5, 6, and the top bar 7 Fig. 13. These are formed of concrete. The bottom and topbars are similar, each being formed with a main body part and with rib Projections 8, one at eachendr The side piece 5 of the door frame has face surfaces 21, 22. The outer edge 23 is convex, conforming to a part of the surface of a cylinder of a radius equal to that of the groove 13 at the edge of a stave. The inner side edge 24 isflat except at the ends where it is provided "with short cavities 25, the surface of each of whichalso conforms to the cylinder specified. The other side element 6 of the door frame is similar to that at 5 except that its outer edge 26 has a cylindrical groove 27 instead of being convex; it also having at the upper ends of its innervertical edge parti-cylindrical cavities 25. The parti cylindrical ribs 8 on the top and bottom pieces 4 and 7 fit snugly into the parti-cylindrical cavities 25 in the side elementsfiand 6. The convex edge 23 of the door frame element 5 fits into the concave edge of any of the staves that may be placed adjacent to it. And, similarly, as to the concave groove 27 in the edge 26: it can be fitted snugly to the convex edge of any adjacent stave.

The door plate 28 is fitted into rabbets 29 formed along the edges of the top, bottom and side elements of the door frame.

The steps followed in assembling theelements of a silo, such as have been described, will be readily understood. The elements 4, 5, 6, 7 of a door frame are laid upon the concrete of the foundation floor 2 before it is finally hardened or set, the sill element being positioned as nearly as possible in a horizontal plane, and the side elements5 and 6 being positioned vertically. 'Then a stave 9 is fitted tightly to the side element of the door with its flat, bottom edge 18 horizontal.

Then this is followed by putting in position one of the shorterstaves 11, as showg in Fig. 1; followed by positioning alternately staves 9 and 11 around the. entire circle of the bottom tier. Then a hoop or clamping band 30 is placed around the upper ends of the staves 9 and drawn somewhat tightly to position. The desideratum is to clamp together, and maintain 1n tight fit and in vertical positions, the long and short staves of 7 the lower tier, the tension of the band being utilized to bring the groove edge 19 of each stave into a snug contact fit with the tongue or. rounded edge 20 of its next neighbor,

After the staves of lower tier have been assembled and clamped, the elements of the doorway frame 3 are, immediately put in rup-ting the curvature.

position above the lowermost door u ,Now

use is made of the staves 10. They .are slipped vertically into position. Their top edges will lie in different vertical planes, the lower and shorter bottomstaves 9 and 11 causing the breaking of joint in the superposed" tiersor staves. After those of each tier are assembled a supplemental band or clamping ring is applied as at 30- Theabove procedure is repeated until a" greatly increase the resistance of the co r,

crete elements to fracture,and insure that powerful compression strains can be exerted without their being broken.

A'matter of importance isthe construe-- tion of the elements of the doorway frame as shown in Fig. 13, and others. Theseframes can be molded easily and, notwithstanding the weight of'an entire door frame, it canbe packed and transported easily and without danger of breakage when made in several elements in comparison withthose madein integral structures. And this method is pai ticularly advantageous in that the elements can be shifted more or less in respect to each other and yet maintain a; liquid-tight joint without-Cracking or breaking. Under the powerful pressure exerted by the threaded.

rods of the clamping banda the horizontal elements and the vertical elements .of the door frame can adjust themselves to the lines of force and insure perfectly tight oints;

The conformations of the top and bottom.;

edges 15 and 16 of the staves which I have devlsed are also of great importance. It w ll be seen that no stave has anypart of the end edge. (which contacts with the end edge of an adjacent stave) that is rectilineal; but that each stave-contacting edge is, throughout, struck as a part of the circle from a center positionedat a point in the central longitudinal line parallel to the long side edges. This parti-circular curved edge has no projection extending beyond the curvatureof the edge, or any socket lying inside of such curvature or shoulder,rinterj I Hence there isno pro ection'at the end of a stave to engage with a corresponding projection, or engagev with a socket, on the next stave, eitherv the one vertically above it or the one vertically below it. Consequently the edge surface at thecurved end of any stave canslip in circontacting wfithf'the, surface of the curved" edge of theneXt stave, and the stavecan, as an fentiIBtfibo'dily move from left, to right; in] curvilinear paths which are arcs of circles, aroundt-he center point (abovedefined) on. the next stave ,"wit hout positively engagin",

' with, or, striking against-,projections on sai I P t s, to herisht, e h lef a h e next stave;

At the same time provide means for.

lockin'geaqh stave against movement, transversely, bodily, of either of its endportions in relation to the end portion of thestave next adjacent. This, locking is effectedby the convex. end portion. of one stave being seated in the concave end portion, of the;

next, and locking the end, of one stave to the end of the next against horizontal rectilineal movement, or a movement bochly, laterally, relieves thestaves to av greatextent from.

the breakage strains incident to forcesacting torsionally upon, or to twist, one part of.

' the silo. structure, above any, given horizon,-

- tal plane in. relation to the other .partqbe-low' suchplanea This bracing of the end part ofone stave by the.endupartof the next.

stave has been-heretofore attained by shaping the .mutually contacting end edges so.

to the foundation (and consequently in relation to the door frame or to staves in that bottom course) or if a stave in any other course should be incorrectly positioned as to the staves therein, its longitudinal lines will be out of perfect parallelism with the longitudinal lines of adjacent staves. But the next stave above it, as at 10*, can slip in a circular path laterally, while still having a fit therewith at their connecting ends. In Fig. 6 this misfit is exaggerated for the purpose of illustration.

The staves are thirty inches (or thereabout) in length; ten inches in width; and two inches (or thereabout) in thickness. The depth of the various grooves 13, 25. 27, etc., are from one fourth to one half of an inch in depth. In practical experience the misfits are not so great as to bring any portion of the extreme edge of the convex part 12 entirely away, laterally, from its companion groove 13, but a misfit to the extent of one sixteenth of an inch is serious. That into the groove 13 to the distance of one,

twzozor three sixteenths of an incln; and still have aserious -misfit. Such misfits result w th staves of thelower course from an;

erroneous fittingto the concrete at the bottom, or they may be caused by grains of sand or small, foreign particles getting into the grooves 13. When such misfitting of a staveoccurs (that is to. say, when it tends to be positioned so astohave-its longitudinal lines inclinedwso as to be one, two or three sixteenths of an inch out of the vertical, but still have itsvertical edgesmore 01' less overlapped by theedg parts of the laterally adjacent staves), the error in the fitting can be taken up by gradually distributing it over a greater or less area ofthe wall. It ispreferable not tolforee together the staves that. are in or, adjacenta region of slight misfitting. but todraw them so that they.

breakable projections so positioned'as to re:

ceive such strains. Of course it is not possible toeliminateabsolutelyall error of fit ting. For instance, if a staye, as at 9, Fig. 6, in the bottom course, should be rigidly set one or three sixteenths of an inchioutlof vertica-lwline, the best that can be attained i the distributing of the error throughout a region in such a way that at no part of a vertical edge will there be a loss of overlap. Then, to insure a liquid-tight seam at the edges of the staves, even where there is a misfitting to the extent of one or two sixteenths of an inch, I form grooves 35 (Fig. 15) at the inner corners of the edges 12 and 13. When the various, initially separate, elements of the silo have been assembled and clamped together the interior surface is covered with a film 36 of concrete, and either at this time or by a separate operation a seaming mass of concrete is forced into the grooves 25, and tight sealing is accomplished of the companion convex and concave surfaces 12 and 13 of the horizontally adjacent staves. The edge walls 37 of the sealing grooves are somewhat inclined to each other and serve to positively hold the sealing strip 38 of the cement in fluid-tight relation to the joint between the staves, and where there is a misfit such as has been referred to, the cement enters any crevices and forms a tight closure.

Figs. 16 and 17 are diagrams illustrating, by contrast, the characteristics of the stages which I have designed. In Fig. 17 the contacting horizontal edges 43, 14. of two adjacent s'taves are rectilineal and at right angles to the side edges In Fig. 16 the edge of the lower stave is formed with a projection 41 and the lower edge ofthe stave'abovef r with a corresponding recess 42.2 The interlocking projection and recess prevent the lateral=slipping, bodily, of the end portion of either stave; and consequently the upper one must rock upon afulcrum point With a tendency to form an opening-between the adjacent edges. If the lower end ofthe upper stave can slip. bodily,-around a circularly curved edge, as shown 1 in Fig. 6, it tends to maintaln a tighterqoint as above described.

A cover 39- isshown for the structure, this in place aspreferred. Y

\ NVhat I claim is 1. The herein described concrete stave for a silo-like structure, it having relatively wide inner and outer faces, parallel recti lineal side edges and parallel curvilineal end edges, one side edge andone end edge being groovedand theother end edge and side edge being correspondingly con veX,jthe curves which define the en'd'edges beingarcs of-circles extendingcontinuously from one side edge to the other.

V 2. The herein described concrete stave for a silo-like structure, it having relatively Wide'inn'er and outer faces','para1lel recti lineal side edges, one rounded cylindrically' and the other grooved correspondingly cylindrically'and two parallel curvilineal end.

edges, the curve'swhich define theend edges being arcs of circles extending continuously from one sideedge to the other, oneend concretev stave for a silo-likestructure having parallel curvilineal end edges, the curves which definesaid edges being arcs of cir'cles'extending continuouslyacross the s'tave whereby if it is out of vertical alinement the-end portion of an adjacent stave can slip in circular tranverse paths, and

having one side edge which is longitudinally grooved anda-side edge parallel to that aforesaidand convex to correspond tort-he groove aforesaid, Whether either side edge may beloosely fitted with the' side edge of an adjacent stave while in overlapping re-' lation therewith and while jslightly outlof vertical alinement, and the stave alsohaving 'on" its inner face seaming" grooves 35 at the corners of the wide' faces and of the side edges to-permitthe admission of cement to sealthe crevices when thefside edges are not tightly fitted.

In testimony whereof I my signature! JONASGROSSNICKLE.

Gopies' ofthis patent may'be obtainedfor five cents each, by addressing the Commissionerof'latents,

Washington, 11.13.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,314,644, granted September 2, 1919, upon the application of Jonas Grossnick1c,-0f North Manchester, Indiana,

for an improvement in Silos, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 22, for the word stay read stave; page 4, line 54, claim 3, for the word whether read whereby; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 7th day of December, A. D., 1920.

[SEAL] L. B. MANN,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. C1. 726. 

